Airbus is to cut A380 deliveries in 2019 to just eight aircraft, as a result of weak sales of the double-deck type.

The airframer had revealed, about a year ago, that it planned to halve annual production of the type to 12 aircraft from 2018.

Emirates subsequently opted to defer deliveries of several A380s but Airbus had maintained that it would still be producing around 12 aircraft annually from 2018.

But Airbus had recently hinted of a further possible rate cut and it has disclosed, in its first-half financial update for 2017, that deliveries of A380s in 2019 will be "adjusted" to eight aircraft.

It says it has made the decision after consideration of "the current A380 order booking situation".

The company has not indicated whether this reduced delivery rate will extend beyond 2019.

Airbus delivered six A380s over the first half – three to Emirates, two to Etihad Airways, and one to Qatar Airways. At the end of the period it had 104 A380s in its production backlog.

Source: Cirium Dashboard